Monthly Archives: January 2018

Take a look at this article I stumbled across, written by a fellow blogger…

It truly just explains a hell of a lot, it tells a story, offers a chance for a reader to step inside the shoes of another, a whole different world in a way, yet still so very real, and of this world today!

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Okay, so I know that technically, it is still January.

There is indeed, still a chance of frost, a pretty big chance of it, at that. It’s still cold, it’s still dark for too many hours, and no, I guess the plants and flowers-to-be, aren’t exactly aching or burning with intense desire, to poke their head out from under the soil, embrace the frosty daylight, and scream with passion:

Look! There’s the sun, that’s what the humans look out for to validate their ‘bikini weather, is it not!? Why can’t I behave like a true Brit for once, and get brave to bare all?”

No, I have seen enough of reality now, to understand that this is never going to happen, despite how much I wish I could hurry along the months, to get to the point when the Earth is ready to be tilled, the plant pots filled with new compost, and the seeds safely sprinkled.

However…

There are things we can do, there is hope yet, for those who crave freshly sprouting seedlings, the first hints of glorious Green, that reminder that Spring is on it’s way, maybe not now, but soon!

So, fellow gardeners, don’t despair! Here is a list for those who cannot wait, like myself, which I have conjured up, to share with anyone interested…

Garden/allotment Jobs for January, or at least February:

Sow indoors (e.g. windowsill) or in a greenhouse:

1) Begonia – These are slower to flower from seed, so getting a good head start by sowing seeds indoors, at this early stage of January/February, isn’t a bad idea for those who love a beautiful Begonia.

Begonias will eventually flower come July- October and November even!

Begonia- beginning to flower- photo taken July 2017

2) Sweet Peas– Sow in a glass house/greenhouse, or cool place indoors (i.e. next to a windowsill)

Cabbage growing in my old bathtub turned flower bed- photo taken in October 2017

4) Leeks– Start sowing these now, under cover. They need a long growing season, so starting early, provided they are protected under cover, is a good plan.

5) Broad Beans– Providing the risk of frost isn’t too great, you can start sowing the hardier varieties of Broad Beans, directly outdoors, into the soil.

6) Raspberry canes and blackberries– Check first that the soil isn’t waterlogged or frozen. You’re good to start planting Raspberry canes and other fruit bushes like Gooseberries, outdoors!

7) Dahlias– You can sow these beautiful flowers-to-be indoors, now. Generally it’s best if they’re left to germinate at a temperature around 15 degrees C- 20 degrees C.

Dahlias will eventually flower from July up to October!

Happy Red Dahlia flowering- photo taken in August 2017

8) Snowdrops– Now is a great time to establish new colonies of Snowdrops, those well known, iconic and heavily reassuring, first flowers to often appear, during those testing post-Christmas, post- Winter Solstice weeks. If possible, it might be a good idea to go out and buy Snowdrops which are already flowering (from local garden centre, markets and some supermarkets such as Morrisons), because then of course you get the head start, and can personally select those which you feel are already looking healthy, pretty and encouraging!

9)Tulips– These bulbs which will come to life in Spring, can delightfully be planted now, even in January. In fact it’s best to plant Spring bulbs such as these, as early on as possible, because (wonderfully), Spring will arrive before we know it!

Tulips show themselves in their upcycled, quirky growing locations- An upcycled toilet, and a pair of old boots!

So, what are you waiting for? Can’t wait for compost? Neither can I!

Hopefully, I have been able to inspire readers, with some confidence, and remind fellow lovers of plant companionship, that the (seemingly) endless Winter desolation we have all been contending with recently. It’s time to reawaken some eagerly anticipated colour in our lives!

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Of course

I was once someone, happy, and intrigued…

This, above….

used to be me.

However,

For some strange and ridiculous reason, I was stupid enough to try working for the NHS.

I was stupid enough to think that someone, who was a Staff Nurse, within the NHS Trust I worked for, on the same ward I worked on, was ‘trustworthy’, and didn’t realise his manipulation techniques, and sinister motives, before it was too late. I thought, that night, when I rushed over to go and see him where he lives, that he was genuinely in need of support and help, since he had phoned me in a state of distress, threatening to end his own life, and/or start burning things and people, or himself, if I didn’t come round to see him within the ‘next 30 minutes’. He gave me directions, and like a fool, I followed them, to his location. There, he raped me.

FYI- He is thankfully no longer able to work as a nurse, due to the charges brought against him by the police, who I was able to bring myself to report the crime to, once i’d managed to get away from there, driving as helplessly, frantically and desperately away, as I could manage.

That’s enough for me to say for now. I’m still waiting for some of the counselling I desperately need, to help me come to terms with this ordeal, which happened in July 2017.

Like this:

Watering cans. I am going to need watering cans, and LOTS OF THEM! But first, it will probably make sense to reclaim the plant pots!

I have just left a kind of prison. I was never arrested, charged, tried or convicted. Yet still, for three months of my life, I lived, ‘imprisoned’. While I write this, I even ask myself: Do I mean this metaphorically? Initially, yes, I did. Then I reflect, on how I have lived, for those three small months.

Those months should have felt small, and they were (or will be) ‘small’, in the long run. In years to come, they will shrink down in significance, and the ‘footprint’ left by their boot, will be scaled into something similar to insignificance, by the great, green, giant months, which I will plant, and bring into full bloom, starting from today.

The day I moved out of that ‘homeless person’s temporary, interim accommodation’. A tower block, stretched like a club, into the sky. Not like the intricate, webbed branches of Trees, which seem to sing into the sky. No, the Tower Block pounds into the horizon like a ‘Thud’. The life within mine was stale.

Try comparing that to the life of an old Oak! Those Acorns are only part of the reason, that the Oak Tree harbours life, so much the opposite of stale. Try asking a Squirrel: “Oh, Squirrel, sir? Erm, I was wondering, who are you going to be feeding that nut to?”. To be frank, you might actually get more of an answer out of the Squirrel in your mind’s eye now, than you would get for an answer attempted by those empty, personless walls, around you in a Tower Block flat, or ‘holding cell’, while you wait to be rescued by the chance of a new home.

So no, I don’t mean ‘prison’, in the sense that I was literally behind bars. There is a darker, sadder, story behind my ending up in such a desperate place, though. I was a victim, yet in the (endless) months which followed the attack, I felt as though I were the one, being punished. Playing ‘prisoner’, while I await that trial, while I wait for the day some Crown Court Judge can somehow ‘lift’, from my shoulders, spirit and heart, that weight, the crushing weight, of dark cloud looming.

Enough.

I am now free of the Tower Block ’emergency accommodation’. Now, I have a space, where I can begin to sleep again, live again, sing again, dance again, work again…